“Paige was like, ‘Oh, my gosh. She’s really good,’” Fudd, a graduate guard, recalled Bueckers reporting.
“And I was like, ‘really?’ I’d heard all the coaches talk about her during her recruitment process, but I hadn’t really seen it because I wasn’t out there.”
Strong — a woman of many points and rebounds but very few words — had come to UConn around late August not totally knowing what to expect from her inaugural season. The Durham, N.C., native had hoped she’d adjust quickly. She wanted to make an impact for Geno Auriemma’s storied program.
But when her teammates noticed how quickly she grasped UConn’s offense in those summer workouts — and all of the nuances that come with it — they had a feeling she’d be no ordinary freshman. That conclusion was correct.
Friday in Tampa, Strong scored 22 points in UConn’s blowout victory against top overall seed UCLA, becoming just the third freshman in program history behind Breanna Stewart and Maya Moore to drop 20-plus in a Final Four game.
With 22 points tonight, Sarah Strong becomes one of three freshman in UConn history to score 20+ points in a #WFinalFour game:
◽️ Breanna Stewart
◽️ Maya Moore
◽️ Sarah Strong pic.twitter.com/Mxgk5PWSrk— The Athletic WBB (@TheAthleticWBB) April 5, 2025
If UConn wins the national championship Sunday afternoon against No. 1 seed South Carolina, sure, it will most likely be because Bueckers had a day. But Strong is just as critical for the Huskies — up there with the best of the best when it comes to UConn’s most impressive freshmen and the X-factor for Auriemma’s team all season long.
“It wasn’t easy,” said Strong, who averages 16.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. “It definitely took a while. Took a lot of going to my family and coaches. (But) I would just say, every day at practice, I would get more confident in myself and get more comfortable doing the things I did in high school.”
Strong was the top-rated recruit in the Class of 2024 out of Grace Christian School and grew up in the ultimate basketball family. Her mother, Allison, starred for Harvard, then was a WNBA teammate of South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. Her father, Danny, played at NC State.
Just thinking about the poor suckers who had to guard her in high school makes Fudd pity them. When Auriemma watched Strong play as a five-star recruit, he knew the potential was there for the 6-foot-2 forward who is just as dangerous from the 3-point line as she is when she’s spin-moving her way to the basket.
Sarah Strong spin cycle 🔁 pic.twitter.com/xTV5iE2e33
— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) April 1, 2025
Neither of them realized the transition ...
